Fruit-tray and process of making same.



A. M. LANE.

mun TRAY AND PROCESS OF MAKING SAME.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 19. l9l8,-

Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

- flfzyz 7 ALFRED M, LANE, or ST. LOUIS; MISso'URI, AssIeIvoR TO MONARCI-I METAL WEATHER.

STRIP COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MIssoURI, A CORPORATION or MISSOURI.

FRUIT-TRAY Ann PROCESS or MAKING SAME.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

Application filed January 19,1918. Seria1No.212,76i

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, ALFRED M. LANE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of St; Louis and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fruit-Trays and the Processes of Making the Same, of'which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to sheet metal trays and the process of making the same. The invention relates particularly to trays having removable openwork bottoms whereby the fruits or similar articles to be dried thereon are ventilated. One of the objects of the invention is to reduce the number of sections forming-the marginal edge or body portion of the tray, thus reducing the number of joints resulting from said number of sections. A further object is to construct a tray, the marginal edges of which are formed of one flat strip of metal rolled into any desired cross-section and bent into the required shape to form the marginal edge or frame portion of the tray. Another object is to reduce the weight, increase the strength, reduce the cost of production and, at the same time, simplify the construction of the tray. A still further object is to enable the trays to be stacked one on another and to provide for theeasy attachment and removability of the detachable openwork bottoms.

The invention consists in a fruit trayhaving a removable openwork bottom and adapted to be stacked upon atray of similar dimensions. The'invention also consists in the process of forming such trays. The invention further consists in the parts and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the drawing which forms part of this specification, like reference numerals refer to like parts in the several views.

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a fruit tray embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical cross-section taken through the marginal portion of the tra 3 is a bottom plan view of the corner portion shown in Fig. 2 drawn to the same scale F ig. 4 is a sideelevation of the strip which forms the marginal edge portion of the tray before'being bent into the desired shape; and

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the strip which forms the clamping member for the tray before being bent into shape. I

The tray shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings comprises a rectangularly-shaped open frame 6 and a woven wire'bottom 7. According to the present invention, it is preferable to make the frame 6 from a con tinuousstrip of sheet metal 8 (see Fig. 4), which is rolled into the desired cross-section, and then bent to form the frame 6. The longitudinal margins of the strip 8, which form the top and bottom edges of the frame 6, are curled around wires 9, which project beyond the strip at one end as at 10 and terminate short of the strip at their opposite ends forming pockets 11 in the curled edges of the strip. The frame 6 is formed by bending the strip 8 into a rectangular shape, the opposite ends of the strip being brought together at one side of the frame so as to abut, and the projecting end portion 10 of the wires 9 fitting into the pockets 11 formed in the curled portion of the strip. The frame 6 is substantially H-shaped in cross-section, the inner walls being substantially vertical, doubled back at its bottom and extending upwardly alongside of the inner wall, thence outwardly forming a horizontal ledge portion 12, and then down wardly as at 18 forming a continuous groove or channel in thebase of'the frame. The

woven wire bottom 7 is bent around the doubled back bottom portion of the inner wallof the frame, extends upwardly into the continuous groove or channel formed in the base of the frame and is bent outwardly under the horizontal ledge portion 12 of the frame. The edges of the wire bottom 7 which extend to the'groove formed in the base portion of the frame, are clamped against the inside and top of the groove by means of a rectangularlyeshaped clamping frame 14, which is in the form of a bar bent to fit the groove in the base of the frame. The tray is provided with screws 15, which extend through the downwardly depending outer wall 13 of the frame 6 and are threaded into the clamping frame .14 for holding said frame in place. These screws 15 are also located on each side of the joint in the tray frame and hold the abutting ends ofthe frame member together.

lhe overall dimension of the top portion ofthe tra is smaller than the overall dimension 0 its bottom so as to permit a numher of similar trays to be stacked or nested one on another resulting in a great saving of space.

In applying the woven wire bottom, the tray is turned bottom side up and a piece of woven wire slightly larger than the overall dimension of the tray is placed over the upturned bottom portion of the tray. The clamping bar is then forced into the groove formed in the base of the frame stretching the wire tightly across the open bottom of the frame and forcing its marginal edge into the groove, thereby firmly clamping the wire between the inner and top Walls of the groove. The screws 15 are then inserted for securing the bar in place.

The preferred method of forming the fruit'tray frame and the clamping frame is as follows: A strip of sheet metal of the required length is rolled or otherwise shaped into any desired cross-section, (or as shown in the drawings) with a longitudinal groove formed therein and both marginal side edges of the strips curled around wires. These wires project beyond the strip at one end and terminate short of the strip at its oppo-- site end leaving the ends of the curled portions open for a short distance from their ends. A straight bar 16, the same length as the sheet metal strip, is then inserted inthe groove and both members bent to form the rectangular tray frame 6 and clamping frame 11. The bar 16 which forms the clamping frame acts as a mandrel and prevents the walls of the groove from becoming distorted during the bending operation. Both ends of the strip and bar are brought together at one side of the frame and form a butt-joint. The bar is then removed from the strip and its meeting ends butt welded, forming the clamping frame. This bending process brings the opposite ends of the strip, which forms the fruit tray frame, together, and the projecting portions of the wires are fitted into the adjacent open ends of the curled portions of the tray frame to prevent the side wall of the frame from spreading. The wire bottom is then attached in the manner heretofore described, forming the finished fruit tray.

I The foregoing described arrangement is considered only as an example and as being the one most adapted to the fruit tray shown, but I do not wish to be limited to the shape of tray, or to the details of construction heretofore described. I

I claim the following as my invention:

1. A fruit tray comprising a sheet metal frame constituting the walls thereof, said frame consisting of a strip of sheet metal doubled along a longitudinal line and hav' ing one ply formed into a continuous groove opening toward the bottom of the frame, an openwork bottom extending into said groove and means for securing said bottom in said groove, said groove being otherwise free of obstructions.

2. A fruit tray comprising a sheet metal frame constituting the walls thereof, said frame consisting of a strip of sheet metal doubled along a longitudinal line and having its outer ply redoubled to form acontinuous downwardly opening groove, an openwork bottom extending into said groove, and means for securing said bottom in said groove, said groove being otherwise free of obstructions.

8. A fruit tray having an open frame, said frame being formed of a single piece of metal bent so as to bring its opposite ends together, one of said abutting ends having portions extending into the other of said abutting ends to form a joint, the upper portion of said frame being of single thickness and the lower portion being offset with respect to the upper portion, and the intermediate portion being formed into a downwardly opening groove, an'openwork bottom extending into said groove and means for securing said bottom. 7

' 4c. A fruit tray comprising walls whose upper and lower portions are of single thickness and whose intermediate portion is formed into a downwardlyopening groove, an openwork bottom; extend-ing into said groove and means for securing said bottom, said groove being otherwise free from obstructions. r

5. A fruit traycomprising walls having an upper portion, a lower portion offsetoutwardly with respect tosaid upper portion and an intermediate portion integral with said upper and lower portions and formed into a downwardly open groove, an open work bottom extending into said groove and means insertible in said groove for removablv securing said bottom.

6.- A fruit tray comprising walls made of a single strip of sheet metal, the upper por tion of said walls beingof single thickness, the lower portion of said walls being of single thickness and the intermediate portion being formed into a downwardly opening groove, and an openwork bottom secured in said groove, said lower portion of the walls extending lower than said openwork bottom, the lower portion of said walls being oflset outwardly with respect to the upper portion. 7. The process of making fruit trays which consists in doubling a strip of sheet metal in a longitudinal line and rebending one ply to form a groove, curling the margins of said sheet metal strip over sections of wire arrangedfto project from one end of said strip and stop short of the other end thereof to form pockets, bending said wire strip into the desired shape with the projecting ends of the wires extended into said pockets, and then applying bottoms.

8. The' process of making fruit trays which consists in doubling a strip of sheet metal in a longitudinal line and rebending one ply to form a downwardly opening groove, curling the margins of said sheet metal strip over sections of wire arranged to project from one end of said strip and stop short of the other end thereof to form pockets and so disposed as to leave the groove unobstructed, bending said wire strip into the desired shape with the projecting ends of the wires extended into said pockets, and arranging a section of wire cloth with its margins across said groove and then pressing the margins of said wire cloth into said groove with a frame adapted to lock said wire cloth in place.

9. A fruit tray comprising walls made of a single strip of sheet metal, the upper and lower portions being of single thickness and whose intermediate portion is formed into a downwardly opening groove, an openwork bottom extending into said groove, and means for securing said bottom, said groove being free of obstruction other than said bottom and securing means, the upper and lower edges of said walls being bent over wires that project beyond one end of the strip and terminate short of the other end, whereby the projecting ends of the wires fit in the pockets thus provided.

10. A fruit tray comprising walls made of a single strip of sheet metal, the upper and lower portions being of single thickness and whose intermediate portion is formed into a downwardly opening groove, an openwork bottom for said frame, and a clamping frame for securing the margins of said bottom in said groove.

11. The process of making fruit trays which consists of first forming a strip with a groove in one of its longitudinal edges and placing a bar of the same length in said Copies of this patent may be obtained for groove and bending said strip and bar into the shape of an open frame, then removing said bar frame from the groove and buttwelding its meeting edges, then spreading an openwork wire cloth across the frame formed from the sheet metal strip, and then forcing said bar frame into the groove in said first mentioned frame whereby the marginal edges of the openwork wire cloth are forced into the groove to form an openwork bottom for said fruit tray.

12. A fruit tray comprising a sheet metal frame constituting the walls thereof, an open-work bottom and means for securing the same, said frame consisting of a single strip of sheet metal doubled flatwise against "itself along a longitudinal line and having one ply formed into a continuous groove opening toward the bottom of the frame.

13. A fruit tray comprising walls whose upper and lower portions are of single thickness and whose intermediate portion is of two thicknesses on the inside and a third thickness spaced therefrom to form a downwardly opening groove and offset the bottom. portion from the top portion, an openwork bottom in said groove andmeans for securing said bottom.

14. A fruit tray comprising a sheet metal frame constituting the walls thereof, said walls being of H-section, and said frame consisting of a strip of sheet metal doubled along a longitudinal line and having one ply formed into a continuous groove opening toward the bottom of the frame, an openwork bottom extending into said groove and means for securing said bottom, said groove being otherwise free of obstructions.

Signed at St. Louis, Missouri, this 15th day of January, 1918.

ALFRED M. LANE.

five cents each, by addressing the commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0." 

